Since we were last with you...
Once the game took the soup in 1995 and went professional, it was inevitable that the win-at-all-costs mentality preached ad nauseum by players and coaches alike would eventually lead to a compromise in standards. Dean Richards and Harlequins clearly stretched the boundaries to the absolute maximum when introducing toy shop fake blood capsules in their efforts to secure a semi final in the Heineken Cup last season. Even Richards admitted that their efforts bordered on the farcical.
On the international front, unsavoury eye-gouging incidents perpetrated by such high profile back row forwards as Schalk Burger and Italian captain Sergio Parisse further tarnished the image of the game with Burger, in particular, ruining what should have been a very special occasion for him in leading out his country on his 50th cap in that epic second Lions test in Pretoria. It set a trend for a game that bordered on the reckless at times with a level of physicality displayed by both sides which was manic. Unfortunately the Lions came off second best on that front with five of their starting team spending the night in the local hospital. That said, it was one of the most thrilling and engaging contests I have ever seen at international level.
The fallout off the field from Bath’s nefarious activities which resulted in five of their squad from last season departing the scene with varying suspensions due to their indulgence in recreational drugs has also focused attention on the pitfalls that can afflict highly-charged young men with spare time, cash and a high profile. There is a warning there for those in authority that nothing should be taken for granted as rugby is fast approaching the status of soccer in capturing the less desirable tabloid headlines.
In addition, when my former second row partner Neil Francis claimed in a Sunday Tribune article that a few of our international colleagues were dabbling in similar recreational activity back in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s, the general reaction from my Munster colleagues was ‘where were we all when that was going on?’ Several other former players from around the country feel the same way. The only thing we could say with certainty was that Franno never took any performance-enhancing substance – or if he did, they didn’t work.
In the heat of battle people often do silly things and let’s not cod ourselves into suggesting that Harlequins were the only team to ever fake a blood substitution. That is simply not the case. For a team to resort to those tactics in a Heineken Cup quarter-final was both stupid and naive. To err once is human. Instead of putting their hands up and accepting the folly of their ways in the immediate aftermath of the game, Harlequins compounded their problems by attempting a botched cover-up. The guilty player, Tom Williams, was initially only the pawn in the process but his efforts to seek compensation for silence does not reflect well on him either.
Dean Richards has paid the ultimate price and it is unlikely that he will ever work in a professional capacity in the game again. That said, once his punishment has been served, he should be afforded the opportunity to pick up the pieces. Whether any professional management board will be willing to take that chance will be interesting to see.
Richards efforts to cover up the sad episode by presenting misinformation to the ERC disciplinary body does not reflect well on either him or the London club. I find it hard to understand how Harlequins are still in this season’s Heineken Cup. Imagine the embarrassment should they go on to win it. The ERC disciplinary panel played a proverbial blinder in flushing out the truth by initially handing a 12 month ban to Williams knowing that he would press for an appeal.
One can just imagine the damage that would have been done to the competition if the returning Nick Evans had succeeded with his drop goal attempt and Harlequins advanced to the semi final. Leinster would have been denied the opportunity to progress to their inaugural triumph and in all certainty Munster would have beaten Harlequins in Croke Park and retained the trophy by beating Leicester in the final. It would have been a hollow victory once the full tawdry facts eventually emerged, not to mention the litigation and compensation cases that would inevitably have followed.
SPARE a thought too for Nick Evans, the former All Black, who, despite harbouring a serious knee injury that had precluded him from featuring in the Harlequins team for several weeks in the build up to that Leinster game, was clearly sent back into battle with no consideration to the further damage he could have done to his knee. No player should be put in that position. On a number of fronts Harlequins fell far below the standards by which any player should be forced to operate.
So on the eve of yet another Heineken Cup tournament, let’s hope the headlines over the next few months belong to those who are seeking earnestly and honestly to rebuild the tarnished reputation of a competition that, for me, ranks as the most engaging and entertaining in the world of club rugby.
Pride in what is achieved on the field, allied to a corinthian-type sportsmanship that was the hallmark of the game, must once again take precedence over winning at all costs.
